Jessica Binsch/MNS
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks on as Afghan President Hamid Karzai addresses reporters at the State Department. An Afghan delegation is visiting Washington this week to meet with U.S. leaders.
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday outlined an American presence in Afghanistan that will continue even after U.S. troops have left the country, a significant change of perspective for the administration.
“This partnership is a long-term commitment,” Clinton said Tuesday, opening a day of consultations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and many members of his cabinet. “This commitment, Mr. President,” she added to Karzai, “will endure long after U.S. combat troops have left.”
“We will not abandon the Afghan people,” Clinton said. The atmosphere appeared much improved from recent tensions between the two countries, when U.S. officials had harshly rebuked Karzai for not being firm enough on fighting corruption. “The ability to disagree… is not an obstacle… rather, it reflects a level of trust,” Clinton said about the public bickering. Sitting at the head of a long table lined with top U.S. and Afghan officials, the two leaders tried to leave behind those negative impressions.
Clinton said it was “a special pleasure” to host the delegation, who she had welcomed with a dinner the night before. Karzai in return praised Clinton’s hospitality and expressed gratitude for U.S. sacrifices in Afghanistan.
“We have made immense progress,” Karzai said. He called on the U.S. to support Afghan development “as we propose it and as it would leave Afghanistan with long-term economic and security stability.”
Both said they plan to discuss the long-term partnership between the two countries across a range of issues. The presence of the Afghan ministers of the interior, agriculture, finance, education and health, among others, was a testimony to this broader approach.
“These meetings are aimed at setting a new tone after what has been a difficult spring for U.S.-Afghan relations,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow atthe Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. Despite toning down public criticism, he believes U.S. officials “will continue to press quietly and ask for actions like arresting corrupt officials and holding them accountable.”
But Katulis is doubtful the administration has an effective plan for a long-term strategy, something his organization criticized in a report published Monday. “The Obama administration remains vague about what progress looks like in Afghanistan and what our objectives are over the next two to five years,” reads the report.
Short-term programs sometimes clash with more sustainable projects that are slower in producing results. “We don’t have a clear idea on the metrics of how we measure progress,” Katulis said. “I think it’s criminal what we’ve not been able to produce after spending all that money.”
The report points out that the Afghan government needs to be consulted more and that Afghans should be able to shape how their country is run.
Here, the administration agrees with Katulis. On giving Taliban insurgents a chance to join mainstream Afghan society, so-called reconciliation, Clinton said, “We stand ready to support our Afghan partners,” leaving them to take the lead.
But on one of the most important issues – the Afghan government’s ability to provide security to its citizens – the U.S. will remain heavily engaged. Clinton said the U.S. would “continue to equip, train and support the Afghan security forces” even after the end of the military mission.
The police training mission currently lacks trainers, a recent Defense Department report on the progress in Afghanistan said. Two senior military officials told a congressional committee last week that the U.S. has sent additional trainers to fill that gap until other NATO countries commit further resources to Afghan police training. While the Pentagon report raised questions about the quality of the police force, it said Afghan military and police are well on track to reaching the quantitative goal of 134,000 military and 109,000 police officers by October.
Clinton encouraged the Afghan government to take over command of its forces to continue a transition of power to the Afghans. To help the government, she stressed the importance of strengthening district and provincial levels.
Clinton pointed out that the number of U.S. civilians on the ground has tripled in the past year, to about 1,000. President Barack Obama’s military surge, on the other hand, will add an additional 30,000 troops, about half of which have deployed so far. The Obama administration plans to begin reducing its military presence in Afghanistan in the summer of 2011, but Clinton’s remarks indicate a U.S. presence on the ground for years to come.
The Afghan officials are in Washington for a four-day visit that will include consultations at the State Department Tuesday and a meeting of Obama and Karzai at the White House Wednesday. Karzai visited the Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Tuesday. Afterwards, he said it served as a “stark reminder that we together have a difficult journey to make.”